François Legault says Projet Saint-Laurent would create 50,000 jobs

Quebec political leaders hit the campaign trail early Monday morning, as Quebec’s election campaign entered its second week.

The Coalition Avenir Québec kicked off the morning by introducing its Projet Saint-Laurent in Trois-Rivières.

Leader François Legault said the project would create “innovation zones” — centres for research and development in the Lanaudière, the Laurentians, the Montérégie, the Chaudière-Appalaches, in the Outaouais near Hull, in Abitibi and in the Lac-Saint-Jean region.

Legault said the project would create 50,000 jobs over four years and generate $16 billion in investments.

Liberals want to reduce bureaucracy

The Quebec Liberal party focused on its education platform this morning, pledging to cut down on bureaucracy in the province’s education system.

Speaking from Quebec City, Leader Philippe Couillard said he would reduce bureaucracy by 40 per cent at the offices of the minister of education and abolish regional education centres.

Couillard said those cuts would could save the province more than $180 million over the next five years.

“As the Parti Québécois continues to prepare … for a referendum, at the Liberal party, we want to prepare for the future and focus on the real issues, and the future education of our children is a real issue,” Couillard said.

Couillard said the savings would invested in programs aimed at tackling drop-out rates.

He said he also wants to ensure the intensive English courses in Grade 6 announced by the previous Liberal government receive adequate funding.